The future home of Franklin's museum looks to be getting a whole new entrance.

Note: the funds being used to do this work are from the CAPITAL budget and not the Operational budget. The funds from the pending sale of the Four Corners building can be used to pay for this work. The funds from the pending sale of the Four Corners building could not be used for an operational expense like re-hiring a laid off teacher or bringing on another person in the Police, Fire or Public Works Dept.

With the November election approaching, it is time to start preparing for it. Let's start with a good explanation of how the electoral college works. This one by the folks at Common Craft is a good, accurate and simple explanation of the electoral college. No chads are left hanging!

Piles of electronic detritus, including discarded computer monitors and hard drives, tangles of thick power cords, and bulky TVs, filled a parking lot next to Gillette Stadium last Saturday, waiting to be hauled off and recycled.

The daylong event, a cooperative effort of Sony Electronics Inc. and Waste Management Recycle America, was proclaimed a success by the organizers.

"The event exceeded our expectations on all levels, which was great," said Jensen Kroll, an account manager with Waste Management who coordinates the company's recycling efforts for the northeast region.

"It was fantastic," agreed Doug Smith, director of corporate and environmental affairs for Sony. "Everything was extremely smooth. No one had to wait in line."

He said 3,494 vehicles navigated the 11 lanes set up at the drive-thru event, discarding electronics that had been pushed aside for more modern models.

Franklin teachers show off their artistic talents

By Heather McCarron/STAFF

Thu Sep 18, 2008, 03:54 PM EDT

FRANKLIN -

There’s an old saying that goes like this: "Those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach."

And it’s completely false, says Mike Caple, art director for the Franklin Public Schools, who is joining other members of the K-12 art faculty this fall in an exhibit that shows "these teachers can do."

To open the second season of Franklin Public Schools’ new art gallery, Gallery 218, many of the 17 members of the district’s art and visual media faculty are introducing their artist selves to the public by putting their own work up for viewing through Nov. 7.

This is my request for the two additional officers. I am 95% personnel driven. If my budget gets cut, that means some person does less. I have 4 people on our overnight. If we have one accident at 4 Corners and something happens over at the Elks, we are in trouble.

When is the busiest time? Wednesday morning between 8:00 and 9:00 AM last year.About 70,000 folks coming through here on a daily basis, via 140, 495, the trains.

Our calls for service have gone up 3-4%, our arrests have gone up 40+%we are the busiest town in court cases in Dedham, in WrenthamOn track to handle about 850 calls just with our children, in our schools and outside

Our biggest complaints are traffic, children, elderly.We are generally in ahead of the Fire. Grant money is keeping us afloat.We are down in personnel but maintaining our service with technologyJim Vallee has gotten quite a bit of money to help our technology needsCapital money has generally been reduced because of the grants, but there is no guarantee of that

7200 times for 911 calls last year

We need the bodies to answer that callThe State has mandates but they don't fund them properly, proper booking for an arrest, a long process that the State does not fundSomeone processing an arrest is taken off the street who could respond to a call

Looking at four officers over the next four years, 2 right away, then one 2011, another one 2012The two we asked for this year were cut, I understand that, 40 plus teachers were cut

What have we done on a regional basis?I lead our tactical regional response group. We have a group ready to respond.

Franklin is the last stop on the train, we are getting an influx of people that we have never had before.

We did over 400 drug cases last year.

Because we are involved people will tend to come to us.This is the best cooperation we have between schools and police that we have ever had.

Domestic violence is an issue.

44000 incident, incident any call that requires a response; a small portion of that is house maintenanceOver 100,000 phone calls

Looking for a repeater in the north end of town to help the radio can get a good signal therePossibly putting an antenna somewhere there to help the signal, I have grant money to do this.

Our computer system allows for a quick update and get back on the road more quickly, less time reporting.Can you do a voice thing and let someone else type it in?We do have a system but it is expensive and we use it for a big court case where there are lots of witness statements, etc.

FBI stats say 2 per thousand people, we have 46, FBI would have us with 66. I am about 7 officers below in comparable communities, 15 of 16 in ranking.

Chief Williams has provided some statistics to Steve Whalen, he will send it around to the group.

Franklin has a good reputation so they can get transfers in and it gets the new hires up to speed quicker. It would be good to get all four new officers at the same time, could put them all into the training cycle.

uses regression analysis to determine response effectivenesswhen the stats show their decline in responses, they can either add resources or stop handling certain situations; for example, they do not respond to pump flooded basements, they do not handle cat in the tree calls...

when they talk about adding resources, they talk about adding a companycurrently a 4 platoon system, budget for 5 people; sick time, vacation, training, all required to keep 4 active and on duty

forecasting to add a company in 2011rather than taking a big hit, looking for incremental growthallows for training through the fire academy as a group, rather than one at a time

Dr Eisenburg model shows graphically how to have a successful response within 8 minutescivilian fire deaths triple when fire flash point is reached in a roomwe are right at 81.1%our exposure is in the north of Franklinas those parts of Franklin develop, that will create response time issues as the travel is longer from the stationthe nature of the population area will help to drive the call volume

2005-2006 we were at 59%now with additional folks over the last few years, the response time as improved

anticipation of a 4% increase in calls

the call is the event whether it is one call or 15 calls for the same event, it is one eventthe event can be responded to with one vehicle or multiple, but it is still a single event

the increase comes from multiple factors, I wish I could tell you it is a pure calculationI did take the historical numbers and did a regression analysis over time to come up with 4%

when the economy is going from good to bad, or bad to good, there is an increase in call volumewhen the economy is steady at either the top or the bottom, there is a steady volumeshould be able to write a book about this some day

the model is statistically valid, when it will happen is the question

it is easy when you use big numbers20% of our base is industrial/commercial and the highway, residential is driven by populationthe nature of the industry will drive volume, warehouse is less than heavy manufacturing

there will be increases until we hit the build out scenario, once we hit the build out max, there should be a lessening of demand, although as the community declines, that poses additional problems that can drive call volume

what does the ambulance money pay for or not pay for?the amount collected via third party billing when the ambulance transfers patientsthe money simply covers the capital requirements for the ambulance equipmentthe rates are determined by Medicare/Medicaid

goal is to bill out within 30 days of the responseyou may not see a bill as the insurance company may cover it

we cross train our paramedics and firemanwe need 15 folks to fight a single family residence, 10 to fight the actual fire and five called back into the station to provide coverage

Medicare used to reimburse at 80% of the fare billing feenow the rate is $643 per ambulance no matter what the patient requirements are

what happened when we tried to regionalize dispatchyou can only regionalize in MA with the communities are less than 2500 people

what have you done to reduce cost, or improve productivitywe have 12 people on duty, we don't replace until we go down to 10we are right staffed, it allows us to hold off calling folks back

45% of our call volume happens with 2 calls within 15 minutes of each otherwe are staffed to handle two calls, to handle three calls would add another million dollars in staffing

there is really no flashy sexy solution, we have been at this since Prop 2 1/2 came inover the twenty years, we have done it all, without a major technical advance (and that is not realistic)

it will take a few years beflow 90% to build a trend line for the demand

fire dept are so entrenched in tradition, communities identify with their fire dept, to say we would go to a Charles River Fire department for example, combining with Medway and someone else near

regionalization is a 30 year buzz word, in Eastern MA, very few successful efforts especially when getting to the employees

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Losing one's sight, which sometimes happens with age, is a frightening experience, and people usually don't know what help is available to them, Andrea Schein told a captive audience at the Senior Center Tuesday afternoon.

Those who are blind or suffer vision loss often have to deal with the public's misconceptions and fear as well, said Schein, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind.

"If you tell someone you have a loss of vision, the tendency is (to yell), 'HELLO, HOW ARE YOU TODAY?"' Schein said loudly, prompting a few seniors to laugh so hard they started tearing up.

"Attitudes about blindness are terrible, just terrible. The only things scarier to the public are cancer and AIDS - things you die from," Schein said.

Baffled at this, the audience blurted out, "Why? Why?"

People just don't know how to communicate, she told the seniors, who comprise the newly formed Low Vision Group.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has issued a warning: Mosquitoes in Franklin have tested positive for West Nile virus.

"We continue to urge residents to take personal precautions such as using repellent. It's not too late in the season for us to see human cases of West Nile virus or EEE (eastern equine encephalitis)," DPH State Epidemiologist Dr. Al DeMaria said in a press release.

Being aware of mosquitoes' active hours. The hours from dusk to dawn are peak biting times for mosquitoes, he cautioned, so avoid early morning and evening activities outdoors

Wearing long sleeves, long pants and socks to protect skin from mosquito bites

Applying insect repellent containing DEET (but not on infants under 2 months of age and in concentrations of 30 percent or less on older children), permethrin, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus (but don't use lemon eucalyptus on children under age 3)

Draining still water to mosquito-proof a home. This includes rain gutters and drains, because mosquitoes lay eggs in standing water, and install or repair screens to keep the pests outside.

Town Council last night postponed a decision on whether to rezone a portion of Rte. 140, demanding more specific information about potential development.

"If they want us to pass that bylaw, give us information," said Councilor Robert Vallee.

Town planners proposed the idea to expand business opportunities, said Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting.

Town Planner Beth Dahlstrom and Town Engineer William Yadisernia are hoping the zoning change will bolster development by allowing a wider variety of projects near the Knights of Columbus property, which is on the northerly side of Rte. 140, they have said.

The plan would switch a portion of West Central Street (Rte. 140) from Business/Single Family III to Commercial II.

The Knights of Columbus is selling its property, town planners want to increase the redevelopment potential of the lots in that area, and the Knights property is in need of substantial redevelopment, Yadisernia has said.

Beaver St to be open on Thursday. There is still some paving to do possibly next week but the road is passable now.

Question 1 is on the November ballot would remove the income tax and remove about 12 billion dollars from the State budget. This money provides about 35% of our annual budget. I hope folks think long and hard before voting on that question.

Offer for special meeting on commercial property tax evaluation, will be scheduled

Old business - noneNew business -Vallee - if the zoning bylaw is going to be brought here again, let's get the information we asked for. If it had come for a vote tonight, it would have failed. It requires a two-thirds vote to pass.

Councilor CommentsZollo - the fields are a standard barer for the town(will add comments for the school teachers putting in effort in trying times)

Vallee - The school department is going to have to look forward to less next year. The economy is going into the tank.

Maxine provides a recap of the history and recognition of the town website.

Technical limitations forced a change. The application was outdated and becoming unsupported. Quicksite was a home grown application.

Virtual Townhall provides support directly to the users posting their information.

Cost of the prior services was approx. $22,000 per year (hosting and support). The new service is an annual cost of about $6,000.

Initial design and framework was by the team with a focus on ease of use to a website visitor. You can access information in multiple ways. Most information can be found on the page without scrolling up/down.

Designed to separate the town and community/business information.

Community/business links moved to American Towns at no cost.

Conversion sessions conducted. Several general done, individual departments also meet directly with Virtual Townhall. Next week follow up training is scheduled. Questions/concerns being collected to help Virtual Townhall prepare for the training session.

Doak - Question on conversion time, was content there? There seemed to be some confusion with what information would be there.

Raposa - There is a difference between the town and community site, only the Town site can have the official seal.

Bartlett - Is all the old Town information on the new siteKinhart - No, there is 2-3 years there now. It is a project to continue to add to it.

demo of features -department list, not complete but what is important to show without scrollingConnect CTYFire Department - pictures of equipment and stationsContact us - has form to request notice for posting to front pageTop navigation bar for Schools, Residents, Business, Home (return to front page)Community - American Towns

Doak - question on URL and redirectsRaposa - temporary situation until the school website is moved to another server

Another in a series of podcasts on what matters in Franklin, MA. This one focusing on the presentation and discussion about the downtown parking study presented by Brian Taberner from the Town Council meeting on 9/3/08.

By way of catching up, I will do some shorter podcasts to provide the detailed discussions to you in their entirety. There is little I can add to the discussion itself so you might as well listen to it all and take from it what you will.

This is from the Town Council meeting on Wednesday 9/3/08 where Brian Taberner, the Downtown Planning and Community Development Director makes his presentation covering the downtown parking study. Beth Dalhstrom assists during the presentation. This portion of the meeting includes the Q&A and my own two cents input.

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This podcast has been a public service provided to my fellow Franklin citizens and voters by Steve Sherlock

By way of catching up, I will do some shorter podcasts to provide the detailed discussions to you in their entirety. There is little I can add to the discussion itself so you might as well listen to it all and take from it what you will.

This is from the Town Council meeting on Wednesday 9/3/08 where Brian Taberner, the Downtown Planning and Community Development Director makes his presentation covering the goals, objectives, and projects underway. Beth Dalhstrom assists during the presentation.

The notes taken from my live reporting during the Town Council meeting can be found here

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This podcast has been a public service provided to my fellow Franklin citizens and voters by Steve Sherlock

This Saturday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m., the Friends of the Franklin Library will host an old-fashioned ice cream social featuring the award-winning barbershop quartet, Concord Express.

The festivities start at 3 p.m. on the grounds of the Franklin Public Library with an ice cream social. Concord Express sings in the traditional barbershop style and consists of four greater Boston-area performers. The public is invited to this free cultural and tasteful event. In the event of inclement weather the event will move indoors to the library community room on the lower level.

The Friends of the Franklin Public Library have announced they are accepting book donations for the Fall Book sale scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18. Book sale donations may be dropped off at the Franklin Public Library during regular business hours lower level.

The Friends are seeking hardcover and paperback books, fine periodicals, videotapes, DVDs, record albums and CDs, but not outdated encyclopedias and reference books, or Reader’s Digest Condensed Books.

By way of catching up, I will do some shorter podcasts to provide the detailed discussions to you in their entirety. There is little I can add to the discussion itself so you might as well listen to it all and take from it what you will.

The first is from the Town Council meeting on Wednesday 9/3/08 where they discuss the proposed bylaw covering digging into a street in less than five years after it was re-done. The council completes the discussion and leaves the bylaw unchanged.

This will leave some residents with a situation that they are not happy with but it will leave the town overall with a better road infrastructure.

Choices, choices.

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This podcast has been a public service provided to my fellow Franklin citizens and voters by Steve Sherlock

Staff Sgt. Pirelli, 29, was killed in a gun battle on Aug. 15, 2007 in Diyala Province while serving a tour in Iraq with the Army Special Forces. The Green Beret had been a goalie for the Franklin High School Panthers hockey team.

"My main job for the rest of my life is to keep his name alive,'' Pirelli said.One of the ways he will do that, with the help of family and friends, is through establishing a perpetual scholarship for Franklin High School graduates.To raise money for the first set of scholarships, which the Pirellis plan to hand out in 2010, they are holding a comedy night (for ages 21+) on Sept. 27 at the Doubletree Hotel in Milford (formerly the Milford Sheraton), at 7 p.m."We're really putting on a Las Vegas-quality show in Milford. There are headliners, Johnny Pizzi, who is in Vegas right now, Paul Gilligan, Tony Vee, Paul D'Angelo,'' Alberts said.

A "super mom'' was sitting with her, talking about how she had just sent her child to college and needed to find a job, but felt she had nothing to offer, Waters recalled."I thought she had it all together. She sat in front of me and started crying, and told me nobody would talk to her,'' Waters said.The woman had spent a lot of time volunteering and was active in the community, but didn't think potential employers would value that experience, she explained.So Waters used her corporate vocabulary and applied it to her resume, showing her she had many transferable skills."She started to sit up straight and became confident she was worth something out there,'' Waters said.That woman, in turn, inspired Waters to start Back to Business, instead of one of the other dozen or so ideas she was kicking around, she said.She spent the next year and a half researching, interviewing human resource managers, recruiters, and other hiring entities to learn what they wanted in employees."They're not against moms returning to the workforce, or people making a job transition. They just want to see transferable skills, computer skills, and they want the candidate to be clear about what they want,'' she said.Waters realized she could bridge the gap and clear up misperceptions, she said.Unable to find a good alternative to their situation, many women do nothing and simply continue feeling stuck, she said."We un-stick these fabulous women,'' Waters said."Confidence is the biggest thing missing,'' she said, adding that hiring managers do comment about applicants needing to have more of it.